YOU might think that a player who boasts the productivity of Liel Abada – the winger now has 12 goals and seven assists for the season after a game turning cameo against St Mirren - would be a little put out that he has started only 16 of Celtic’s 39 matches in all competitions this term.
Instead, the 21-year-old has got his head down and got on with the job at hand whenever he has been called upon by his manager, Ange Postecoglou. And he has very rarely let him down.
Not that he would last too long at Celtic if his nose did get a little out of joint when handed a substitute’s bib yet again.
“What do you reckon would happen to players who throw their toys out of the pram, mate?” Postecoglou said.
“He’s a really ambitious guy who wants to be at a big football club. He wants to win things and be the best he can be. That’s exactly where he is at.
“All our players, particularly the younger ones who want to go on to further opportunities, maybe to a stronger league, do you think they are going to go to a club where they are guaranteed game time?
“No, so it’s no different here. We are a big club. Nothing is guaranteed. You’ve got to earn everything and these boys do that.
“He was really good. It’s important — and it’s a weekly thing — that the guys who come on make an impact.
“The fact they’re not starting doesn’t affect their mind set. I just thought the way the game was going it was a good game for him to come on into. I knew he would get a bit of space out wide to run at them.
“He’s a handful when he does that and he’s always a goal threat. It doesn’t matter what opposition he is up against. He was really good today.
“He’s played a lot of football over the last 18 months for us, and he’s scored a lot of goals and supplied a lot of assists. He’s still got a way to improve, I’m sure, but again he’s another within the group who just wants to be better.
“Consistently when he is asked to contribute, he makes a contribution.”
While he might not be getting the regular starts he would like at this stage in his career, Postecoglou did point out that Abada has participated in more games than you might think, only failing to make an appearance in the Champions League away tie against RB Leipzig due to Yom Kippur.
The Celtic manager has been full of praise for how he has handled the weight of expectation on his shoulders to produce the goods on the park consistently at such a young age.
“He’s a pretty strong-willed young man,” he said.
“It wasn’t easy for him to come across here at his age. He’s come into a big club where there are expectations.
“When you are a winger at this football club people don’t give you allowances for your age or whatever kind of player you are. They want to see goals and assists and he’s been consistent in doing that.
“I know he’s not had a lot of starts but he’s still played a lot of football. He and Matty (O’Riley) are probably the only two who have played every game for us this year.
“People focus on who starts and they think players aren’t getting game time. But from our perspective he was a really strong contributor last year, and this year and he will continue to be.”
